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by UntoldStories113
Summary: Getting kicked out of the program due to Wazowski's fault had been bad enough, but having to tolerate his infuriating presence every night was near unbearable. (Mild spoilers for Monsters University)


**Timeline note:** Multiple points in time, all loosely set between Sulley and Mike's initiation into Oozma Kappa and the Library Challenge.

* * *

The first night in their shared room was a disaster.

Wazowski would not let him sleep. The guy kept complaining. About the squeaking of Sulley's mattress, about the temperature in the room, about the blanket that kept slipping off his unimpressive body. And then when Sulley had _finally_ managed to tune him out and fall asleep, he was rudely woken up again and ordered to stop snoring.

So he figured he would have to wait until Wazowski fell asleep himself, but that took ages. The idiot kept tossing and turning, mumbling to himself about Scaring facts and strategies, shuffling with the damned blanket… at one point, that stupid, stuffed animal fell out of the lower bunk, and then the guy actually got up and had the gall to noisily make room for the thing on one of the shelves before getting back to bed again.

But when he finally _did_ fall asleep, it only took him a minute or so of sleep-talking before he fell _silent_, too.

Sulley actually looked over the edge of his own bed to confirm it, but yes, there was not a sound coming from that guy.

Wow. That was probably a first.

* * *

After that night, it did not get much better. Sulley would have asked for a change in their sleeping arrangements, if the other members of this fraternity had not all been idiots, too. But, no, he actually had to put up with the guy. When he was not being a nuisance or determined to get on Sulley's nerves, he was being an idiot and a nuisance. And a joke. And a nuisance for good measure.

It was not as if someone like him would _ever_ be scary. Or useful, really.

How Sulley longed to be back in his ROR bedroom, the one he had had all to himself. No noise from stupid roommates because there were none. No, just him and a wonderful, soft bed.

But, well, he was not welcome there any longer. And _that_ was definitely _Wazowski's_ fault! If that idiot had not had to act as if he was someone of value, Sulley would not have had to show him his place, and then that whole thing would never have happened!

* * *

Sometimes, Sulley was noisy on purpose, just to annoy the guy. It was one of the little bits of fun he had left in this house. He would fake being asleep and snore dramatically until Wazowski kicked the bottom of his mattress to call him out on it, and then he would listen in satisfaction when the guy half-choked on a shower of fur.

He regretted that, though, when the lack of sleep made Wazowski's dreams more restless and, thus, his sleep-talking more pronounced. And _louder_. In the realization that he was only hurting himself with the noise, Sulley abandoned that particular prank and moved on to hiding the stupid hat at night so that he could watch the idiot frantically run around to search for it in the morning.

* * *

When he did not come to bed one night, Sulley was surprised to find himself worrying. He had no idea what Wazowski had done that evening, as they kept doing their best to avoid each other, so he was not sure if the guy was even in the house right now. Maybe still training for the second event. Or being a nuisance to someone else for a change. Sulley told himself to ignore it, to go to sleep as long as it was quiet enough for that, but for some reason he could not fathom, he stayed wide awake.

It was not until hours later that the door to their room opened with its usual creak. Sulley hastily closed his eyes and tried to breathe regularly, and from the softness of the footfalls, he knew that this was indeed Wazowski entering the room; everyone else in the house was heavier than he was.

Wazowski closed the door behind himself and then just kept standing right where he was. And for some reason, Sulley knew the guy was looking at him. Probably wanted to determine if he really was asleep, so he tried his hardest not to give himself away.

Minutes of tension. Was the guy still watching? Did he see through Sulley's act? But eventually, he moved from that spot to briefly rummage on one of the shelves, and then finally climbed into the lower bunk.

Now that it was safe, Sulley dared to crack one eye open. He was not sure what to make of Wazowski's behavior, or why it was so important to that idiot that Sulley really was asleep, but at least he did not have to worry anymore. Why he had worried in the first place, he had no idea.

He could not be sure in the pale moonlight fading in from outside, but he thought there was something amiss. Was there an empty spot on the lowest shelf?

The bear. The bear was gone. Wazowski had taken his stuffed animal to bed like a five-year old, little…

And that was when Sulley heard them. The almost inaudible sobs drifting up to him from the lower bunk.

The soft sound made his breath hitch in his throat. That _was_ Wazowski down there, right? He never cried! Understandable, as it kinda clashed with that super-confident attitude. Or super-confident _act_?

He had no idea what to do. He had no idea why he even _wanted_ to do something, but he strongly felt the desire to say something, at the very least.

But then he remembered how carefully Wazowski had checked if he was awake. And he realized his intervention was not welcome. That much was obvious.

He did not get any sleep that night, and for once, he could not find it in himself to be angry with Wazowski for it. But with a little luck, in the morning, maybe they would go back to hating each other like before.

Though maybe not quite as viciously.


End file.
